The invention relates to television entertainment systems for providing television programming to consumer homes. More particularly, the invention relates to a user friendly system for providing consumers with television programming choices.
Advances in television entertainment have been primarily driven by breakthroughs in technology. In 1939, advances on Vladmir Zworykin""s picture tube provided the stimulus for NBC to begin its first regular broadcasts. In 1975, advances in satellite technology provided consumers with increased programming to homes.
Many of these technology breakthroughs have produced inconvenient systems for consumers. One example is the ubiquitous three remote control home, having a separate and unique remote control for the TV, cable box and VCR More recently, technology has provided cable users in certain parts of the country with 100 channels of programming. This increased program capacity is beyond the ability of many consumers to use effectively. No method of managing the program choices has been provided to consumers.
Consumers are demanding that future advances in television entertainment, particularly programs and program choices, be presented to the consumer in a user friendly manner. Consumer preferences, instead of technological breakthroughs, will drive the television entertainment market for at least the next 20 years. As computer vendors have experienced a switch from marketing new technology in computer hardware to marketing better useability, interfaces and service, the television entertainment industry will also experience a switch from new technology driving the market to consumer useability driving the market.
Consumers want products incorporating new technology that are useful, and will no longer purchase new technology for the sake of novelty or status. Technological advances in sophisticated hardware are beginning to surpass the capability of the average consumer to use the new technology. Careful engineering must be done to make entertainment products incorporating new technology useful and desired by consumers.
In order for new television entertainment products to be successful, the products must satisfy consumer demands. TV consumers wish to go from limited viewing choices to a variety of choices, from no control of programming to complete control. Consumers wish to advance from cumbersome and inconvenient television to easy and convenient television and keep costs down. Consumers do not wish to pay for one hundred channels when due to lack of programming information, they seldom, if ever, watch programming on many of these channels.
The concepts of interactive television, high definition television and 300 channel cable systems in consumer homes will not sell if they are not packaged, delivered and presented in a useable fashion to consumers. The problem is that IV programming is not being presented to consumers in a user friendly manner.
Consumers are already being bombarded with programming options, numerous xe2x80x9cfreexe2x80x9d cable channels, subscription cable channels and pay-per-view choices. Any further increase in TV entertainment choices, without a user friendly presentation and approach, will likely bewilder viewers with a mind-numbing array of choices.
What is needed is an economical system which can present television programs through a user friendly interface which allows the consumer to easily select from among the many program choices.
What is needed is a system that assists the consumer with his program selection.
What is needed is a reprogrammable system for presenting program choices.
What is needed is a system which can be remotely reprogrammed.
What is needed is a system capable of handling hundreds of programs in different formats, be expandable for future types of programming and be inexpensive. The present invention is addressed to fulfill these needs.
This invention is a reprogammable terminal for television program delivery systems which is capable of suggesting programs for viewing. Specifically, the present invention may be remotely reprogrammed and is capable of assisting a subscriber in selecting television programs by suggesting programs for viewing. This is a particularly useful invention for television program delivery systems with hundreds of channels of programming and a menu driven program selection system.
Preferably the terminal is located at the television set top and is used with a television delivery system that includes a program control information signal which carries data and identifies the available program choices. The terminal includes means for receiving incoming signals, a processor, memory and means to generate menu screens for display on a TV or monitor.
The terminal can be remotely reprogrammed using an incoming signal. Preferably a software interrupt followed by a memory location or software line number is transmitted via an incoming signal. This is followed by the new software programming which is written into memory at the set top terminal. Using this method, basic programming as well as menu formats, templates, logos, colors etc. may be changed.
The terminal of the present invention can also help a subscriber in selecting programs by suggesting programs to the subscriber. The terminal suggests programs that the subscriber is most likely to watch. The terminal is capable of applying several methods of analysis and a variety of informational sources to solve the problem of choosing a program that the subscriber is most likely to watch. For example, responsive and xe2x80x9cintelligentxe2x80x9d methods of analysis may be used with mood, personal profile, and historical program watched and network watched data.
Responsive methods of analysis require a subscriber to respond to a variety of questions or select subjective adjectives from program driven menus. The terminal will pose the questions or lists of subjective entries using menus and the subscriber will respond using a user interface, usually an alpha-numeric remote control. For example, subscriber preferences in mood, type of program, category/genre, actor, year preference and standard rating can be selected from menus as search entries. These entries, or key words which correlate to the entries, will be used to search a program database consisting of abstracts of a multitude of programs. The search results in a list of programs which can be displayed to the user.
Intelligent methods xe2x80x9clearnxe2x80x9d the subscribers viewing choices through analysis of historical data generally gathered by the terminal in a passive mode.
Through a series of analysis and weighing algorithms, the terminal is able to suggest groups of programs. A menu display of the suggested programs is offered to the subscriber. Within the suggested group of programs, the terminal can also prioritize the programs and determine each programs menu position.
It is an object of the invention to provide a user friendly interface for subscribers to access television programs.
It is an object of this invention to assist viewers in choosing programs.
It is an object of this invention to allow subscribers to select a program from among hundreds of choices without a television viewing guide.
It is an object of this invention to suggest program selections to viewers.
It is an object of this invention to monitor subscriber viewing choices.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system which can be reprogrammed.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system which can be remotely reprogrammed.
It is an object of this invention to provide a system which can handle many television programs and menu selection of programs.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art upon review of the following description, the attached drawings and appended claims.